Karlapat Micro Hydro

Latest on the Gram Vikas micro hydro system being built in Karlapat village, Kalahandi district, Orissa:

Working is progressing slowly due to rains. Not much remains to be complested: the main cable and the penstock.

















Karlapat has an amazing banyan tree near the micro hydro site.
















The 110-or-so home village also has amazingly sweet kids...non-stop gigglers.

















Rains have washed out the road in front of the power house.
















The system has 2 pumps as turbines designed for an output of 10-25 kW.































Laying the penstock should have been one of the first steps in implementation, but we could not manage the schedule...

Rice Green

Everywhere,
Fully alive,
Transplanted one by one,
The colors of the fields
Make me soar.
















You probably know more about the process. From what I've seen during trips to the villages, the rice seeds are planted in fields allocated for seedlings. Once there are seedlings, they are individually transplanted to larger fields.
















I have been told most of the rice fields we see here in Orissa are owned by the villagers. About 15% are owned by larger estates. The villagers take turns to work each other's field.